Composting...

[TJAnonymous]

There are a lot of tomatoes, plus some little orange fruit I didn’t recognize. I get a different mix every load I pick up, but it’s clear that “round” and “pile” don’t mix!

I often say if all this whole fruit was intended to be wasted, it’d be square, not round. At least the chickens eat well!

ROFL.... When you referred to "round objects" meet "pile," I thought you meant the chickens....

 

[Iluveggers]

Yeah I have a hard time "turning" the piles or shuffling the piles of compost. I have silkies so that isn't gonna help since they aren't as helpful in this way as other type chickens.
So guess I'm left with the dump method and leave it for longer.

Sounds like…CHICKEN MATH TIME!!!!

Maybe it’s time to add a few birds of another breed. For compost reasons.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Just made a handy pick up for my composting efforts. I've had my eye on one of these for a while, even bought one that was damaged and had to be returned. They come in a few sizes, and this is actually the biggest I've seen. I knew I didn't want the smallest size, since it's no good for hauling 5 gallon buckets. The middle size will hold six 5 gallon buckets, but this one should hold eight. It'll also be good for hauling 32 gallon trash cans of leaves, buckets of finished compost, etc. Best of all, it came assembled so I could see it wasn't damaged.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Just made a handy pick up for my composting efforts. I've had my eye on one of these for a while, even bought one that was damaged and had to be returned. They come in a few sizes, and this is actually the biggest I've seen. I knew I didn't want the smallest size, since it's no good for hauling 5 gallon buckets. The middle size will hold six 5 gallon buckets, but this one should hold eight. It'll also be good for hauling 32 gallon trash cans of leaves, buckets of finished compost, etc. Best of all, it came assembled so I could see it wasn't damaged.

View attachment 2970418

We had one of those about 10 years ago. We used it for taking trash cans to the road... It was a great little cart until it rusted. We have a Gorilla cart that I use now for just about everything - cleaning out poop and muck, hauling soil, rocks, leaves, compost, you name it. I love that it flips up to make dumping a breeze... And the handle converts so I can attach it to the 4 wheeler hitch, if needed

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Almost forgot to mention in my excitement about the cart that I also bought a bag of lump charcoal that seemed reasonable enough. Turns out, real charcoal is just biochar, which can be used in the coop to absorb odors and then in the compost. Putting biochar in a compost pile charges it up with lots of great microbes.

I put some of the lump charcoal in a 5 gallon bucket, and worked it with a scrap 2x4 to break it into smaller pieces. Worked pretty well.

 

[3xhhheather]

Almost forgot to mention in my excitement about the cart that I also bought a bag of lump charcoal that seemed reasonable enough. Turns out, real charcoal is just biochar, which can be used in the coop to absorb odors and then in the compost. Putting biochar in a compost pile charges it up with lots of great microbes.

I put some of the lump charcoal in a 5 gallon bucket, and worked it with a scrap 2x4 to break it into smaller pieces. Worked pretty well.

What??? Oh man thats so good to hear, I was looking into biochar and the price was....crazy.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

What??? Oh man thats so good to hear, I was looking into biochar and the price was....crazy.

Yes, biochar is just charcoal, so while that lump charcoal is far from cheap, it's not quite crazy either.

I've made biochar on a small scale using metal paint cans in the campfire pit. I know people who do similar in their wood stoves.

I'm toying with the idea of building a biochar setup out of a 50 gallon metal drum...maybe one of these days!

 

[dirkandlorie]

Yes, biochar is just charcoal, so while that lump charcoal is far from cheap, it's not quite crazy either.

I've made biochar on a small scale using metal paint cans in the campfire pit. I know people who do similar in their wood stoves.

I'm toying with the idea of building a biochar setup out of a 50 gallon metal drum...maybe one of these days!

I've never heard of biochar for gardening/composting. Can u tell me more about its purpose, benefits, etc? How is it different from using wood ashes? And anything else about it u think would be helpful to know. Please and thank you.

 

[3xhhheather]

Yes, biochar is just charcoal, so while that lump charcoal is far from cheap, it's not quite crazy either.

I've made biochar on a small scale using metal paint cans in the campfire pit. I know people who do similar in their wood stoves.

I'm toying with the idea of building a biochar setup out of a 50 gallon metal drum...maybe one of these days!

Never thought I’d be this excited about this find lol spent last night doing some additional reading and found a $1/lb lump charcoal that’s just hardwood made by Frontier. Will be picking some up this weekend from TSC to work into my compost pile. Thanks again!

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

I've never heard of biochar for gardening/composting. Can u tell me more about its purpose, benefits, etc? How is it different from using wood ashes? And anything else about it u think would be helpful to know. Please and thank you.

You can find a lot of good info on biochar online, but the basics is that it's a carbon source with a very high surface area. That makes it great at retaining nutrients and water, and adding carbon to your soil (which can help break up clay soil and provide a better growing medium).

Wood ash also has it's uses in the garden, especially if you have acidic soil like we do up here in the northeast. Ash adds trace minerals and lowers PH, while biochar adds carbon and surface area. Very complementary.

Speaking of complementary, adding biochar to your compost makes both a bit better. The biochar absorbs nutrients (some call this "inoculated") that otherwise might leach away or cause odors. When added to your garden, the biochar slowly releases the nutrients, helps retain water, etc.

From a sustainability standpoint, one ton of biochar sequesters roughly 3 tons of CO2 in the soil, potentially for a long period of time. So, it's a great tool for reducing your carbon footprint and putting that carbon where it belongs...in the soil.

I use biochar in my coop bedding to absorb excess nitrogen (reduces odors and healthier for the chickens). The bedding (with biochar) then goes into the compost. Once the compost is ready, it goes into whatever planting project I have. "Stacking functions", if you will.